Combined refrigerator and heater.



PATENTED JUNE 23, 1908.

J. A. SEEGER. COMBINED REFRIGERATOR AND HEATER.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 13, 1905.

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Jain 566 .PATENTED JUNE 23, 1908.

J. SEEGER. COMBINED REFRIGERATOR AND HEATER.

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3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

PATENTED JUNE 23, 1908.

(I. A. SEEGER.

APPLIOATION FILED NOV. 13, 1905.

COMBINED REFRIGERATOR AND HEATER.

Witnesses: JnTentoriTk. 3

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JOHN A. SEEGER, OF ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA.

a COMBINED REFRIGERATOR AND HEATER.

To all whom it mayconcern:

Be it known that I, JOHN A. SEEGER', a citizen of the United States, residing at St.'

Paul, in the county of Ramsey and State of Minnesota, have invented a new and useful Combined Refrigerator and Heater, of which i the following is a s ecification.

My invention re ates to improvements in a combined refrigerator and heater.

More particularly, this invention is applicable to railway cars, although it may be used as a stationary fixture in places where it is desired topreserve food and other per-.

ishable articles, which are likely to be impaired by heat in the summer time or cold in the winter time. 7

Two objects attained by this invention are the maintenance of a sufficiently low temperature within the car when the outside atmosphere is warm and of a temperature above freezing when the outside atmosphere is below.

A further object of my invention is to provide an efficient system of internal air circulation in the car and means for prolonging for as great a time as ossible the contact of the refrigerant with he air and the maintenance of the heater, thereby avoiding waste and increasing the distance which the car (flan1 travel without a fresh supply of ice or Further objects are simplicity of construction and greater effectiveness in use. Depending in part upon these requirements I rovide a combined refrigerator and heater,

y means of which the air within the car is kept at the roper temperature and humidity in the simp est and most direct and efficient manner to accom lisli the objects sought.

My invention urther consists of the features, details and combinations of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings forming part "of this specification, Figure 1 is a sectional view through a refrigerator car, looking toward the end containing the ice bunker and showing the guards (to be hereinafter described) removed; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section, taken on the line YY, of Fig;' 1, the guards being shown in place; Fig. 3 is a detail side elevation of an end of the car,

showing part of the heater and the door broken away to expose the interior mechanism Fig. 4 1s a detail sectional view, taken on the line I\.\, of Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a detail Specification of Letters Patent. 7 v

Application filed November 13, 1905.

Patented June 23, 1908. Serial No. 287,028.

view, artly in section, looking toward the side 0 one of the radiators, and Fig. 6 is an end view of Fig. 5.

The car roper, that is its walls A, roof B, ends C an flooring D, is made many of the desired forms, and I do not wish to limit the application of my particular improvements to the special and general construction shown in the drawings. The walls, flooring and roof of the car are preferably made double,

treble or quadru le, with any desired number of air spaces between the separate portions .of the wall, which air spaces may, if

desired, be filled with any suitable material which will serve toinsulate the interior of the car. This car is provided with an ice bunker F (or more than one), made substantially in the form shown in Fig. 2. This bunker or cooling chamber is provided with the usual trap 2 covering an o ening through the roof for the admission 0 ice, and near the floor of the car is arranged'a grate 3 for supporting the ice. Beneath the grate, near the floor of the car, is arranged a drip pan or deflector 4, which catches the drip and causes it to egress through a discharge opening 5, which adjoins a stop 6 across the floor and in front of the pan. These parts are all of ordinary construction and permit the air to ass freely through the ice bunker when i illed with ice or when the heater (to be hereinafter described) is in use.

The front of the ice bunker above the grate is. rovided with a artition G having a plura ity of radiators I? which facilitate the production of suitable air currents throughout the provision container H. Each of these radiators consists of a series of horizontal, hollow and inverted V or any other suitable sha ed tubes J arranged in a vertical row wit the apex of each tube higher than the lower extremity of the one next above and s aced therefrom, thus forming ports K, as shown in Fig. 2. The tubes J are provided with suitable tenons 7, which are mortised at 8 into vertical posts 9. The frame of the partition G is constructed out of these posts and, with the radiators, forms the front wall of the ice bunker. The radiator tubes are locked in place by means of horizontal guards by means of connected in series, as shown, by means of pipes 11. and the lower end of the radiator is connected to a header L and its upper end to a header M.

In one end of the ice bunker is a vertical transverse partition 12, which forms a compartment i\, in which is placed a heater 0. Enteringthis compartment through the wall of the car is an opening P, which provides access to the heater for the purpose of regulating its supply of fuel. A door 13 is adapted to close said opening.

The heater may be of any suitable form and may be operated by coal, oil or other suitable fuel. As shown, I have provided oil burners 14, which are su plied with oil by means of an overhead tan t 15 and a ipe 21. The heater serves to heat a body 0 water, which is conducted to and from the radiators ipes 16 and 17, leading respectively throug i the headers M and L.

A reserve supply of water to the heater is provided by means of a supply tank 18, which is located overhead and connected with the heater by means of a pipe 19. The water in the heater is revented from freezing by adding a smal quantity of salt or chlorid of calcium, which, with the water, in

effect constitutes ordinary brine, The supply tanks 15 and 18, as shown, are located between the walls o f the roof of the car and access ishad to'them from the outside for the purpose of replenishing oil and brine by means of screw stoppers 20. A vent pipe 22 connected with the top of the heater and passing through the roof of the car serves as a vent for the gases orsnioke from the heater.

In use, when it is desired to cool the atmos here in the car, ice is placed in the bun er by removing the trap 2. The cold air in the bunker passes down through the grate and through the o ening below the same into the container, w ere it reduces thetemperature of the atmosphere therein. The air of lower temperature in the container passes up through the port or siphon-shaped openings between the radiator tubes and is deflected down upon the ice in the bunker. These spaces between the tubes are termed si hon-shaped because they tend to act as sip ons, drawing the warm air in the car up and then sharply deflecting it down by means of the difference in density between the atmosphere in the container and that in the ice bunker.

'hen the atmosphere outside of the car is below the freezing point and it is desired to keep the temperature of the interior of the car above 32 degrees Fahrenheit, the ice in the bunker is removed and the heater 0 used. As the water in the heater is heated, it passes down through theplurality of radiating tubes in each radiator and thence returns through the pipe 17. The air which is heated between the radiator tubes is drawn up from the act construction described.

ice bunker and thence sharply deflected down into the container through the port passageways. The warm air is circulated in the container and, as it is'reduced in temperature, passes back below the grate and upward through the bunker. Thus the direction of the current of air passing through the portpassageways between the tubes of the radiators when the refrigerator and heater are used is reversed. The radiators acting to heat andto facilitate the radiation and circulation of the air when the heater or refrigerator is used sim lifies the construction and tends to more e 'ectively accomplish the objects sought. Valves 23 are placedin the connections between'the headers L and M and may be closed when it is desired to cut out any radiator for heating purposes if it leaks or if it is not desired to operate the same.

It is obvious that the shape and details of construction of the radiators may be altered and that other means may be rovided for heating and cooling the car witliout departing from the principles which I have applied, and I do not wish to confine myself to the ex- It is further obvious that any suitable heater for accomplishing the results specified may be used and that said heater may be laced in any suitable partinside or outsit e of the car, if desired, or that the radiators may be connected with any suitable source of sup ly of hot water of other heating medium, wliich are all within the spirit of this invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to protect by-Letters Patent, is

1. In combination with a refrigerator car employing gravity circulation of air and )rovided with a provision container, air coo ing means in said car, a heater, and means emloying siphonic action associated with said ieater and cooling means for increasing the circulation of hot and cold air in the provision container of said car.

2. Apparatus of the class set forth, comprising a suitable inc'losure, an ice bunker, a

provision container, a partition between saidbunker and container, and a heat radiatorhaving ports downwardly-inclined into said bunker and container, for the purposes specified.

--3. Apparatus of the class set forth, c0111- prising, 1n combination with a refrigerator car rovided with a provision container and a coo ing chamber, a partition between said container and chamber provided with cold air ports, and means adjacent to said orts for ieating the air passing therethroug 1.

4. Apparatus of the class set forth, comprising, ln combinationwith a car employing gravity circulation of air, an ice bunker, a

rovision container, a partition between said bunker and container, a heater, and a heatradiator in said partition connected with said heater and provided with passageways which are adapted to circulate air between said bunker and container when the radiator is used to produce warmth or the ice bunker to produce cold.

5. Apparatus of the class-set forth, com-.

prising, in combination, a suitable inclosure, means for cooling said inclosure, and a heat radiator associated with said means and provided with air conducting passageways which are ada ted by gravity to direct the air in said inc osure from an upward intoa 1r iocwnward direction, for the purposes speci- 6. Apparatus of the class set forth, comprising, 1n combination with a car employing gravity circulation of air and provided with means for heating it, means for cooling it, a provision container, and a partition, separating the parts from said rovision container, provided with means for ieating the car and a plurality of ports assing therethrough anc inclined downward y on each of its sides, for the purposes s ecified.

7. Apparatus o the class set forth, comprising, 1n combination with a refrigerator car, a provision container in said car, an ice bunker, a partition between said container and bunker provided with inverted, substantially V-shaped ports leading from said bunker into said container and a heat radiator and means for heating said radiator, for the purposes specified.

8. In a combined refrigerator and heater, a suitable inclosure employing gravity circulation of air, a'provision container in said inclosure, an ice bunker, a combined heat radiator and partition between said container and bunker having a plurality of ports connecting said container with said bunker and i a grating in the bottom of said bunker having its openings communicating with said container.

9. Apparatus of; the class set forth, comprising, in combination with a car, a rovision container in said car, an ice bun er, a partition separating said bunker from said provision container having a plurality of.

ports communicating'therewith and a plurality of heat radiators adjoining said ports,

grating in the bottom of said bunker and in communication with said provision container, means for cutting out one or more of said radiators, and a heater connected with said radiators;

10. Apparatus of the class set forth, com

' prising, in combination with a suitable inclosure, a provision container therein, an ice bunker, a partition between said provision container and bunker formed by a series of heat radiator sections, angular in cross sec tion, placed one above the other and spaced apart forming inclined ports into said bunker and, rovision container, and a heater connecte with said radiator sections.

11. Apparatus of the class set forth, comprising, in combination with a car having a suitable inclosure, a provision container and ice bunker in said inclosure, a partition formed by a series of heat radiator sections, angular in cross section, placed one above the other and spaced apart forming inclined ports connected with sald provision container and ice bunker, a heater in said inclosure and connected with said radiator sections, and a doorway through the wall of said inclosure and connected with said heater.

12. Apparatus of the class set forth, comprising, In combination with a car provided with a suitable inclosure, a provision container and ice bunker contained in said inclosure, a partition between said container and bunker formed by a series of heat radiator sections placed one above the other and spaced apart forming a plurality of ports leading from said container into said bunker, a wall across said ice bunker forming a compartment, and a heater in said compartment and connected with said radiator sections.

13. Apparatus of the class set forth, comprising, incombination with a car, a provision container in said car, an ice receptacle, a partition separating said container from said receptacle having a plurality of radiator tubes connected in series and spaced apart to form air orts between said container and ice receptac e, and a heater connected with said radiator tubes. I

14. Apparatus of the class set forth, comprising, in combination with a refrigerator car employing gravity circulation of air, a

provision container therein, a cooling chamer, and a combined heat radiator and partition between said container and chamber provided with air ports passing therethrough, forthe purposes specified.

15. In combination with a refrigerator car provided with a provision container, air cooling means in said car, and a heater between the air cooling means and said provision con-v tainer having port passageways which are adapted to direct the air passing over the same from an upward to a downward direction.

16. In combination with a refrigerator car having provision and air cooling chambers, a partition between said chambers having a eater, for the purposes specified.

17. In combination with a refrigerator car rovided with air cooling and rovision chamers, a partition betweensai chambers having an air port passageway and a heater associated therewith for increasing the temperature passing through said passageway.

v ing means in said car, and a heater for warmname to this specification in the presence of mg the air passing between sald parts and two subscrlblng Witnesses.

adapted to increase by gravity the circula- I T tion of the air from the cooling means into JOHA SEEGER' 5 the rovision chamber when the heater is not Witnesses:

pro ucing warmth. i ELSIE M. BOESEL,

In testimony whereof I have signed myl F. G. BRADBURY. 

